Method of and converter vessel for bessemerizing copper matte.



W. H. PBIRGE & E. A, 0. SMITH. METHOD OF AND CONVERTER VESSEL TORBESSBIIIERIZING comm MATTE.

' APPL IUATIORT'PILED JUNE 13. 1908, 9%%,3j;6 I Patented Dec.?,1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v W H. PEIRGE & A. G. EMITE METHOD or AND comvzmm VESSEL 1 0mBESSEMEEIZIHG comm MATTE. APPLIOATIOH FILED QY'GHE 18 1908.

3 8HEETS-8KEET 2.

Patanted Dec.7,1909. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

SMITH.

PEIRGE & E

urmoflmn rum: mm: 1a, 1908.

CONVERTER VESSEL FOR BESSEMERIZING COPPER MATTE ammo 01* m llldlllflF-il@TATES PATENT @lilhllfilh "trimmer/i H. rnrncn AND iin'ias A. c.

METHOD OF AND CONVERTER VESSEL Specification of Application filed June13,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. PEIRGE and ELIAS A. C. SMITH, citizensof the United States, and residents of the city of Baltimore, State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Method ofand Converter Vessels for Bessemerizing Copper Matte, of which thefollowing is hereby declared to be a full and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

. In customary method, the bessemerizing of copper matte to obtainblister copper, involves the use of an air blast pro ected through themolten matte as it lies charged within a suitable converteiavesselhaving a quartzose or other highly silicious lining. The air promptlyreacts with the hot iron snllid, presenta necessary constituent of thematte,driving off the sulfur in gaseous form (S0,) while the iron burnsto an oxid, and, at the high temperature prevailing, immediately umteswith the silicic acid (Sill) of the lining, with, perhaps, some minorlime or alumina in addition, to form a copious slag afloat upon thecharge.

Owing to the large ipercentage of iron always present in the matte, asa/chief source of fuel supply to insure requisite fluidity, thecorrosion of the converter lining goes on apace, the whole of the freesilica being quickly taken up so that the renewal of the. lining becomesconstantly requisite, at much delay and expense, after only a few hoursrun. To avoid such fre quent renewals of the acid lining, it has beenproposed to employ a basic lining instead, this being generally,composed of magnesite brick, as a material suliiciently refractory toprotect the vessel shell and equally a non-conductor to preventexcessive loss of heat by radiation, at the outer surface'of theconverter. The silicious flux, for union with the iron oxid to formslag, was no longer derived from the lining, but, in the form of loose,pulverulent additions, was supplied at intervals, directly to the chargewitlzlin the vessel. Experience soon showed that the converter withbasic lining was nearly as short-lived as the earlier form which, asalready noted, .had equipped withlhe corrodible acid liningf, The twyers, for the air blast-were composed of per-foe;

SMITH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

iron nnssnivinnizmo corrnn MATTE.

ieaersraem. Patented Dec. "2?, mos. 1908. Serial No. 438,286.

.each twyer being submerged during the blow, beneath the molten chargewithin the .vessel.

As is well known, the entering blast chills the charge in near proximityto the air vents, so that a cold nose quickly forms and becomes adherentto the tip of the twyer. Constant vigilance on the part of the Workmanbecomes requisite to dislodge the nose by thrusting his punching tool'through-the air channel of the twyer. Un-

less the" nose be broken oil, the twyer vent gradually, closes and, byso much, the volume of entering air diminishes. The cold nose wasespecially adherent to twyers of magnesite brick and thus, in client toclear the nose away, more or less of the brick itself chipped olf,thereby disintegrating the body of the twyers at various points alongthe belt, and, so far, tending to loosen the compact structure of thebrick lining throughout..

()ur invention aims to correct the defects named and, to such end, wehave devised a new method for bessemerizing copper matte in convertersequipped with a non-corrodible lining, left free to shift under changingheat conditions, the plan being to deliver the a matte converter ofimproved sort for practice of the method, the vessel struc ure involvingthe presence at the outer shell of .an inner noircorrodible lining, freeto shift relatively thereto under varying heat conditions, incombination with a set of blast twyers extended through tlxe lining and,at their receiving ends, established in continuous full deliveryconnection with the source of air supply.

In preferred practice the plan is to equip the converter wi h anon-corrodible lining of tenacious, coherent texture, left free toexpand or shift under hight heat, without risk of buckling or rupture,said lining to be united with a set of twyers projected. through theconverter shell, but flexibly sustainedso as to participate in the playof the lining, up and downin floating fashion,

rated magnesite brick, the, inner end at as it weres by which expedienteach separate twyer remains intact and neither suffers leaks to()t't'ill, nor presents an nnyielefing obstruction, as in formerpractice, most apt to start or dislodge the lining in its shift.

The invention further designs to form the tiexible twyer of cast iron.extended entirely 1 through the lining, bu properly jointed at back toth) air conduit in tight fashion to prevent all vagrant leaks of theblast, Such as in prior usage tended constantly to undermine thecoherent lining. metal, the improved twyer stoutly stands the blows ofthe punt-hiugtool as experience shows, the cold nose chills constantlyat the less :ttllHltl' than magnesia twyer; hence the nose detachesreadily when attacked by the workman.

.tiel'erring to the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation .'ie\\', theconverter roof being shown in section;

on line 2---2, Fig. 1. Fig. 2) is an enlarged sectional view on line 3of Fig. -l-, one of the improved twyers being shown mounted in placethrough the lining with its outer end'llexibly sustained at theconverter shell. Fig. l, a detail elevation at the twyer belt, withwind-box cover removed to display the mode for securing adjacentvtwyers. Fig. 5, a detail cross section at line o 5, Fig. (i,

" that the mount for several adaeent twyers being denoted by dottedlines. .Fig. ,6, a view in longitudinal section at the junction of thetwyers with the converter shell. Fig. 7, a sectional view of one of theseparate twyers at; its union with the shell plate; and Fin. 8, f

an elevation of the twyer detached.

In familiar fashion, the converter has the usual cylindric body or shell10 made of sheet steel and equipped with ring flanges 11 resting upontrunnions l2 beneath, to support the vessel and allow for its easy axialturn, at such times as may be neces sary during the progress of theblow. At one side, lengthwise of the, converter, extends the wind-box13, deriving its air supply by pipe tlfrom some convenient source. Theframe of the wind-box is riveted to the adjacent shell of the converterwhile, at its front, the box is equipped with a series of removablecover plates 15 to afford read y access to the box interior.

Asshown at l igs. 1 and 2, the upper side of the converter shell is leftopen between ends, while a, series of tie-rods 10 extend across theopening to keep the shell from spreading, which otherwise might easilyoccur, once the inner liningfexpands or swells far enough underinfluence of the extreme heat.

Each twyer 16 consists of a hollow, iron casting, made square? in crosssection, to snugly adapt; itself to tliet'aces of the lining twink a diacent and extended entirely through Formed of with 1 while,

twyer tip, is much. n Illt. ease of the earner Fig. 2, a cross section,

eat-2,346

I the. lining for certain delivery of the air at the very tip endwithin. in position, the twyer is set at slight incline and furnishedwith an enlarged head 17 that rests snugly within a square hole ofretainer plate 18. Ordinarily, retainer plate 18 affords seat; for aseries of three twyers next adjacent and is sroutly bolted to main shell10 through its reinforce It)". A. cross-tie 19, secured to the'retainerplate, overlaps the outer ends in adjacent twyers to help keep them inplace. I

About the neck and head of each twycr is a packing 17", generally ofasbestos wicking, sullicient; in quantity to stop the inflow of air fromthe wind-box to the lining next the. shell and'serving, besides, tosustain the twyers, as by flexible air-tight joint, (luring rise andfall of the twyer at itsfree end, l due to the heave of the lining, asthe latter expands or contracts under changes of temperature, occurringwithin the converter. I Once the sev ral twyers are set in place, f theoperator proceeds to embed their outer ends, as well as the retainerplates and crossties adjacent, in a heavy coat of thick cement, whichmay be of plastic clay, although often composed of ground magnesite admixecLwith linseed oil, to the consistency of j a. stiff mortar. Underthe hcatcf the coni verter,. the coating referred to bakes hard l l andfast to parts adjacent, completely closing all vents and so far servingto check l the flow of fugitive air currents from the I wind-box, aboutthe twyers and past the l shell into the converter lining beyond. At themore exposed parts, the vessel interior is lined with magnesite brick 20of l usual sort but, instead of luting the layer l of brick and twyersadjacent by use of a l cement. of ground magnesite with slight additionof clay to render the cement sticky, l the customary practice is toemploy for the l purpose, the same cement composition coml prisingground magncsite with linseed oil adn'iixed, ordinarily used for norface of the wind-box. that the cement thus and fast to the brick ing,and to the shell, leak passages,

velop, and remains tenacious and adherent l l at all extremes oftemperature within the vessel. Apparently, the co-etiieien't ofexpansion for the particular cement is suflici-ently close to thatdistinctive of l nesite brickand of the metal partsadjaj cent-to insurea l practically air-tight lining which becomes essentially homogeneousthroughout to prevent the circulation of leak air currents altogether.

I In lieu of linseed oil, it is feasible to subl stitute core oil, suchas the moldcrs use,

consisting of crude petroleum with some minor percentage of resindissolved therein.

the mag.

erases magnesite and linseed oil, chosen in usual times bulging themoutwardly.

practice, may serve the purpose, if the result be to insure thehomogeneity of the lining, in the sense that no vagrant currents of aircan circulate to accomplish disintegration. Except for matter of cost,the magnesite brick may be displaced and the lining be composed solelyof the cement proper. But the baked bricks in compressed form betterwithstand the hard usage experienced in regular converter practice, and,for such reason are generally preferred. In ordinary use, the heat ofconversion developed by the blast becomes intense enough to swell theinner lining which gradually expands, in turn, into the openspace leftat top of the converter shell, until, eventually, the lining comes incontact with the tie-rods 10 often- Being 0t closed, ar ched form, theinner non-corrodi-- ble.lining acts to sustain itself despite theexpansion, and, by reason of the peculiar cement chosen, not only keepsair-tight joints and courses, but also at junction with the floatingtwyers as well. The

- marked heave in place experienced by the lining, Would constantly tendto break or bend the twyers embedded therein, were it not that eacht-wyer is flexibly sustained at back, leaving the main body and tip endfree to float with the lining in'complete avoidance of all rupture ordislocation. That is to say, the lining proper and the twyers unitedtherewith maintain a tena cious, coherent relation, despite the shift,while the twyers are kept tight outside both at converter shell and airconduit beyond, effectually preventing the familiar inroads fon thelining, before met with, and thus preserving the life thereof for weeksor months at a time, during constant use.

Obviously, the details of structure can be varied according to the skillof the mechanic Without departure from the 'essen' tials of theinvention.

Having thus described the inveuticmwhat we claim as new, and de ire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In copper matte converters, the combination Willi an outer shell,ofan inner, noncorrodiblelining left free to expand under through thelining to participate in the shift thereof while still preserving thetight,

coherent state of such lining, substantially as described.

3. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, ofthe internal, i'lon-corrodible lining free to heave therein, a set ofblast twyers embedded in and extended through said lining, and anexternal windbox within which such twyers are flexiblysustaincd inair-tight state, substantially as described.

4;. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, oftheinternal, nolrcorrodible lining free to heave under ex treme heat,the blast twyers extended through the lining but flexibly sustainedadjacent the converter shell, a Wind-box inclosing the inlets for saidtwyers and a cement coating to close the junction of each twyer with theconverter shell and with the wind-box respectively.

5. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shellprovided with an internal lining, of a series of metal twyers, square incross-section, sustained flexibly from the shell and embedded in thelining brick to form a snug joint therewith, substantially as described.

6. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, of aseries of projecting metaltwyers, united. loosely tothe shell, theretainer plates to receive the twyer heads, cross-tics to keep adjacentheads in place and an internal lining in which the free ends of thetwyers are embedded, substantially as described.

7. In copper matte converters, the COHlDination with an outer shell, ofan inner noncorrodible lining shiftablerelatively to the shell under thechanging heat conditions, and a set of blast twyers extended through thelining and having continuous full delivery.

connection at their receiving ends with the source of blast supply;substantially as de scribed.

8. In the bessemerizing of copper matte in converters having anon-corrodible lining, the method of maintaining the desired reactionsin the bath and preserving. the lining intact as it expands andcontracts under the changing heat conditions to which it is subjected,which method consists" in conducting through the non'corrodible liningand delivering into the bath the air blast required for the blow andguardingit during transit through the lining against diminution of itsvolume and leakage into the body of the lining; substantially asdescribed.

9. A converter for bessemerizing copper matte comprising anouter shell,an inner tenacious, coherent lining continuous with the shell and formedof magnesite brick, and

blast twyers embedded in the lining, the joints of the magnesite brickwith one another and with the twyers being luted. with a ceblast twyersembedded in the lining and inent formed of ground inignesite admixedhaving a continuous full delivery connection with a suitable oil,substantially as described. at their receiving ends with the air supply,10. A converter for bessei'nerizing copper substantially as described. 5matte consisting of a cylindrical shell rota- W1 1*). 'tablysustained inhorizontal position and g g 3 open at its upper side, cross tie-rodscennectk ing the sigfe edges of said 0 ening, an inner, l vitnesses:non-corrodible lining arche over at the to CHAS. N. SAPPINGTON, l0 andfree to expand Within the shell, ans CHARLES S. GAN'YP.

